Harvester support mechanism



y 1952 H. D. HUME HARVESTER SUPPORT MECHANISM 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 Filed Nov.25, 1945 112711 4952 .ZZ HUME Snnentor attorney 5 H. D. HUME HARVESTERSUPPORT MECHANISM Jul 15, 1952 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed Nov. 25, 1945 EmH3 HQHHEE 1.2

Gttomcgs Patented July 15, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HARVESTERSUPPORT MECHANISM Horace D. Hume, Mendota, Ill. Application November 23,1945, Serial No. 630,373

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to a harvesting support method and moreparticularly to a new method of balancing a push type harvester from.

the tractor. As pointed out in my prior application Serial No. 508,112filed October- 29, 1943, which was abandoned and replaced by substitutedapplication, Serial No. 666,617, filed May 2, 1946, on which Patent No.2,413,873was issued January 7, 1947, the push type of harvester is ofparticular advantage in that it avoids losses due to the wheels of themachine crushing down a portion of the crop as the pulled type ofharvester did. Also it enables low-lying crops to be cut closelyavoiding losses. The push type harvester, however, in order to functionat its best, should be supported in such fashion as to respond quicklyand easily to action by the operator to raise and lower it to meetuneven ground contours and crop heights. It must be capable of fairlyhigh speed of travel while cutting, and it should be capable oftravelling from field to field with safety without the necessity ofdismantling or of fastening parts more securely.

It is the principal purpose of my invention to provide an improvedmethod and means .of supporting the harvester from the tractor or otherpushing device whereby to accomplish the .results mentioned above.

Anotherand more-specific object of the invention is to provide animproved support means for push type harvesters whereby they aresubstantially floated while operating at high and low cutting levels soas to be easily and quickly shifted by a light force exerted by theoperator and yet securely carried when raised to non-cutting position toprevent bouncing up and down on rough terrain.

My invention in accomplishing the aforesaid objects contemplates thesupport of the cutting and draper mechanism and the reels on a framewhich is projected in front of the pusher device or tractor and which isswingable up and down. The frame is controlled in its swinging movementby a system of levers and resilient means so that movement by appliedforce is quite easy but bouncing or vertical swinging of the frameisopposed in such a, way as quickly to clamp .out any frame movementinitiated by the harvesting mechanism.

- The novel features that I consider characteristic of my invention areset forth with particularity in the appended claim. The inventionitself, however, both as to its embodiment and its method of operation,together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will best beunderstood from the'following description and the accompanying drawingsillustrating a preferred form of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a harvester frame and its supportingmechanism, the reel and draper and cutting mechanisms being leftofi forthe sake of clarity since they are of known construction;

Figure 2 is a longitudinalsectional view'through an adjustablesupporting arm forming a part of the construction in which my inventionis embodied;

Figure 3 is a view in side elevation of the supporting mechanism appliedto a tractor; and,

' Figure 4 is a fragmentary side view .of the harvester mechanism whichis supported.

A harvester mechanism to which my invention applies usually has a mainframe 5 on which (see Figure 4) a reel frame 6, a cutter frame "'I, anda draper frame Bare mounted. Areel 9, reel driving means In and draperand cutting mechanisms (not shown) are mounted by the frames 5, I, and 8and driven from a tractor H by suitable power take-off devices (notshown) According to my invention the harvester mechanism is supported ina floating manner by the tractor H. The particular construction by whichthis support is accomplished is illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3.

Two side beams l2 and I3 are mounted on the tractor by two .frontbrackets l4 and I5 and .a rear cross bar It. The cross bar I6 is fixedto -the beams l2 and I3 by two bars I! and J8 and carries two adjustablebrackets f9 and .20, that are fastened to the tractor by bolts orscrews. .At

, their front ends the beams I2 and i3 mount .a

rock shaft 2| which is pivoted by two brackets." and 23 at the frontends of thebeams. Theshaft is the base member of a crank .having twoparallel arms 24 and 25.

.A sub-frame 26 for mounting the rear end of the frame 5 is suspendedfrom the beams l2 and I3 by four angleirons 21,28, 29, and30, all boltedto the beams and welded to two side frame members 3| and 32. Cross ties.33, 34, and connect the ,members 31 and .32. Two bars .36 and .3] arebolted to the members 3| and 32 and extend downwardly. These bars arebraced by .additional bars .38 and 39 rearwardly spaced from the bars 36and 31 and bolted to the members 3| and 32 and two horizontally runningbars and 4| connecting the bars 36 and 38 and 31 and 39 respectively.The frame 5 has two rearwardly extending arms 5a and 5b and a diagonalarm 3 5c. The arms 5a and 5c are pivoted to the bar 36. The arm 5b ispivoted to the bar 31.

The arms 24 and 25 of the crank have brackets 42 and 43 welded theretoat their top ends. These brackets pivotally mount two links 44 and 45the lower ends of which are pivotally secured by pivot pins 46 tobrackets 41 that are provided on the frame 5 immediately behind the rearmember of the draper frame 8. These links 44 and 45 are adjustable inlength as illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawings. Each link has twotelescoping tubular sections 48 and 49. The inner section 49 is threadedat the top to receive a screw 50 which has a bearing flange 5i restingon the top of the section 48. The screw has a head 52 thereon to receivea wrench.

The bracket 42 pivotally mounts the front end of a resilient link 53.The rear end of this link extends through an upstanding bracket 54welded on the rear end of the beam l2. The rear end of the link 53 isthreaded and is provided with an adjusting nut. The intermediate portionof the link 53 comprises a spring 55.

The bracket 43 is connected by a link 56, to an operating lever 51 whichis pivoted to the beam l3. This lever-carries a foot piece 58 andextends upward to provide a handle 59. A resilient link 60 is connectedbetween the lever 51 and an upstanding bracket 61 fastened to the rearend of the beam l3. The rear end of the link 60 is threaded and extendsthrough the bracket 6|. A nut 52 is provided for the threaded endof thelink to adjust the length of the link. The intermediate portion of thelink 60 comprises a coiled spring63.

The arrangement of thecrank, the links 44 and 45, and the links 53 and56 is such that the crank movements are generally between a nearlyverticalposition (see Figure 3) when the harvester mechanism is raisedfor transport,, a position approaching 45 degrees to the vertical (seeFigure '1) .when the harvester mechanism is lowered to the lowestcutting position. In this way advantags is taken of the crank action togive greater leverage on the harvester frame as the tension on thespring is reduced by upward and rearward movement, of the crank. By thisarrangement I am able to obtain a substantial balance of the springforce with the harvester weight from the position where the cutter barcontacts the ground through all cutting levels. In combination with thefloating cutter frame 1 (shown in Figure 4) a very sensitive control isobtained. It is believed to be evident that if the spring tension issuch that. the total weight of the reel, draper, and cutter frames withtheir associated mechanisms, are somewhat heavier than the springs cansupport the cutter barv shoes will rest lightly on. the ground and beable to follow the contour of the ground with ease. Moreover when theweight of the cutter frame is taken in part on the ground the springsare relieved so as to be able to lift more on the reel and draper andthus help them to follow the rise and fall of the cutter frame quiteclosely. V In addition the substantially vertical position of the crankwhen the harvester frame is raised to its upper limit for transportinsures firm support of the harvester mechanism for transport. Thebalance is such that the harvester frame can be lifted and lowered bythe operator (using the lever 51) with very little 4 effort. A lightforce, either by the hand or the foot of the operator is all that isnecessary to move the harvester mechanism up or down while running.

It will be observed that the spring 63 is much heavier than the spring55. This is necessary because of the different lever advantages enjoyedby the two springs. However, certain other advantages also result fromsuch an arrangement. The tendency 'for sustained oscillations of thesprings is cut down because of the different characteristics of the twosprings. The spring is, preferably, loaded more nearly to its capacitythan the heavier spring as this seems to give a quicker response tomanual adjustments by the lever 51-as well as a more sensitive balance.

The mechanism shown and described may, by suitable adjustable bracketsand attachments, be fitted to various makes and models of tractors.However, such devices do not affect the present invention which isconcerned with the parts carried by the beams l2 and I3 regardless ofhow the beams may be supported. It is believed that the foregoingdescription is sufiicient to enable those skilled in this art topractice the invention and to readily understand the advantages thereof.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

Support mechanism for positioning harvesting machinery in advance of atractor and the like comprising; a crank, a support frame pivotallymounting the crank and having means for attachment to a tractor,resilient link means extending lengthwise of the frame and connecting apoint on the frame, at a distance from the crank, to the crank so as tohold the crank in an upwardly extending position, a harvester framehaving one end pivoted to the support frame to the rear of the crank andextending forwardly from the support frame, harvester mechanism carriedon the forwardly extending portion of the harvester frame and link meanssuspended from the crank and supportingly secured to the harvesterframe, said resilient link means comprising two separate spaced apartlinks each having a coiled spring section intermediate its ends, thecoiled spring section in one link being substantially stronger than inthe other link, and a hand lever interposed in the resilient link havingthe stronger coiled spring section, said lever having its lower endpivoted on said support frame and said link in which the lever isinterposed having its non-resilient section extending from the crank tothe lever and the coiled spring section extending from the frame to apoint on the lever between the pivot thereof and the point of attachmentof the non-resilient section to the lever.

HORACE D. HUME.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

